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What might be broken, maybe purchasing defektive mac mini

T

The-Pro

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 2, 2010
1,453
40
Germany
Sup people,
maybe im going to purchase a defective mac mini 2.26, 2GB, 9400m of ebay.
its listed as defektive and the seller doesnt know what is broken. So I wrote to the person and he said that he does not have KB, mouse, or screen to test it put when he plugs the mac mini in and presses the power button the light on the front turns on. the HDD was taken out by the seller.

anyone know what might be broken, i know there is kot much info but no onw would sell their comp and say they dont know what wrong unless they really dont, its not theirs and sellin for someone else or they dipped liquid over and dont want to write it :D

so yeh anyone have a mini were it doesnt work but the light turns on?? anyone know what can cause this??

even just possible causes would be great.

cheers
 
The-Pro said:
Sup people,
maybe im going to purchase a defective mac mini 2.26, 2GB, 9400m of ebay.
its listed as defektive and the seller doesnt know what is broken. So I wrote to the person and he said that he does not have KB, mouse, or screen to test it put when he plugs the mac mini in and presses the power button the light on the front turns on. the HDD was taken out by the seller.

anyone know what might be broken, i know there is kot much info but no onw would sell their comp and say they dont know what wrong unless they really dont, its not theirs and sellin for someone else or they dipped liquid over and dont want to write it :D

so yeh anyone have a mini were it doesnt work but the light turns on?? anyone know what can cause this??

even just possible causes would be great.

cheers
Click to expand...

How can he know that it is defective, without a HDD and any means to communicate with it?
 
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I dunno, mother board, bad memory, GPU shot (although I believe the 9400 was part of the mother board chipset), bad processor, bad power supply, etc.

You are really asking us what could be broken? Anything....

The only reason to purchase a broken computer is for parts. You might get lucky buying it and it only being the memory (easiest fix), but it could be something as bad as the motherboard. I believe most people who sell "broken" computers, know more about what is wrong than they let on but if they tell you it's the motherboard then you won't buy. If he is savvy enough to tear apart a 2009 mac mini (which isn't easy) to take out the hard drive, then he's probably savvy enough to know what is truly broken and doesn't want to tell you (or at least he has tried the "easy" things).

----------
The-Pro said:
anyone know what might be broken, i know there is kot much info but no onw would sell their comp and say they dont know what wrong unless they really dont, its not theirs and sellin for someone else or they dipped liquid over and dont want to write it :D
Click to expand...

Also, please check your spelling, punctuation, etc. I know many here that english isn't their first language (which MAY be your case), but the mis-spellings leads me to believe you didn't even try. It was difficult for me to even understand what this paragraph meant. Further, it is very naive to think someone truly doesn't know what is wrong.
 
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paulrbeers said:
I dunno, mother board, bad memory, GPU shot (although I believe the 9400 was part of the mother board chipset), bad processor, bad power supply, etc.

You are really asking us what could be broken? Anything....

The only reason to purchase a broken computer is for parts. You might get lucky buying it and it only being the memory (easiest fix), but it could be something as bad as the motherboard. I believe most people who sell "broken" computers, know more about what is wrong than they let on but if they tell you it's the motherboard then you won't buy. If he is savvy enough to tear apart a 2009 mac mini (which isn't easy) to take out the hard drive, then he's probably savvy enough to know what is truly broken and doesn't want to tell you (or at least he has tried the "easy" things).
Click to expand...


well it possible that someone here had a mini where just the light turned on, and therefore knows what the problem was, thats why I asked here.

Yeh im trying to find out if it is the motherboard or something easy. The seller wrote another email to me and said he cant remember there being a startup chime. So either volume is down or something else is broken. the HDD was apparently not taken out by the seller so its possible the person truly doesn't know anything.
I might be able to get it cheap and if it is repairable then it would become my media center replacement. If its not repairable then its for parts for my other minis, I need to think about it :D
It would be a risky purchase :(

paulrbeers said:
Also, please check your spelling, punctuation, etc. I know many here that english isn't their first language (which MAY be your case), but the mis-spellings leads me to believe you didn't even try. It was difficult for me to even understand what this paragraph was meant. Further, it is very naive to think someone truly doesn't know what is wrong.
Click to expand...

Sorry about that. I am extremely dyslexic and I read over it twice. It makes perfect sense to me. I can see what you meant with spelling though :D I should've spotted that, but then even spotting their own spelling mistakes is extremely difficult for dyslexic people :(
 
Personally, the words "Barge" and "Pole" followed by don't touch with spring to mind. OP, I'd leave it alone if I were you, sounds like you are buying a box with next to nothing in it.

Better deals exist...Do some more research, if it sounds too cheap to be true then it is.
 
The-Pro said:
I might be able to get it cheap and if it is repairable then it would become my media center replacement. If its not repairable then its for parts for my other minis, I need to think about it :D
It would be a risky purchase :(



Sorry about that. I am extremely dyslexic and I read over it twice. It makes perfect sense to me. I can see what you meant with spelling though :D I should've spotted that, but then even spotting their own spelling mistakes is extremely difficult for dyslexic people :(
Click to expand...

I have a buddy who is dyslexic. I can completely understand. It just means you have to be extremely dilligent when it comes to written communication especially if you want to be taken seriously (it will make you come off looking like some "punk kid" by people who aren't aware of your situation). I am not part of the grammar police, but it is import to be understood.

Anyway, I think the general consensus is that you need to stay away from it unless you just want it for parts (which it sounds like is NOT the case). In the end, you could end up spending more than a brand new Mini just trying to make it work. You are better off saving your cash and buying new or refurbished even if that means having to wait 6 months to save up.
 
Thanks for the replies, you people convinced me that it is indeed to risky.

paulrbeers said:
I have a buddy who is dyslexic. I can completely understand. It just means you have to be extremely dilligent when it comes to written communication especially if you want to be taken seriously (it will make you come off looking like some "punk kid" by people who aren't aware of your situation). I am not part of the grammar police, but it is import to be understood.

Anyway, I think the general consensus is that you need to stay away from it unless you just want it for parts (which it sounds like is NOT the case). In the end, you could end up spending more than a brand new Mini just trying to make it work. You are better off saving your cash and buying new or refurbished even if that means having to wait 6 months to save up.
Click to expand...


I know what you mean. Usually I read over my posts here several times and make sure it really is 100% correct and it makes sense. I was writing that quickly on my iPhone on the way to the car :D Ill keep it in mind, thanks :)

Yeh makes sense, nope parts isn't really why I was thinking about buying it. Money is not the problem but I don't really need another mini :D Just thought that if its really cheap and easily repairable I might aswell get it :D

I am amazed of how minis keep their resale value. I saw 2007 1.83GHz (the one which cost like 570€ or something) go for 320, 2 days ago. Quite impressive :D
 
OLDCODGER said:
The OP did say that the seller said that it turns on and lights up. It all sounds very fishy to me.
Click to expand...

Agree. The seller sounds fishy.

OP, assume you need to replace every part, or that the seller is trying to sell it for more than it's worth. Or that the seller is a complete moron, but I doubt it.
 
Consultant said:
Agree. The seller sounds fishy.

OP, assume you need to replace every part, or that the seller is trying to sell it for more than it's worth. Or that the seller is a complete moron, but I doubt it.
Click to expand...

sounds very fishy :(

its quite possible, not the first time people would be ripped off over ebay.
hahaha, well u never know, so he could indeed be a complete moron :p
 
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The-Pro said:
sounds very fishy :(

its quite possible, not the first time people would be ripped off over ebay.
hahaha, well u never know, so he could indeed be a complete moron :p
Click to expand...

I would just buy Apple refurb (looks new, same warranty as new), unless you have equipment to test out each part. I think this is your local store. Currently no Mac Mini but they come and go:

http://store.apple.com/de/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

Or just buy a working one on craigslist.
 
Well the seller really does not know what the reason is. He is selling it for a relative who said it just stopped working one day. Someone took out the HDD to secure the data and it was never tried to repair the mini as the company gave this person a new one to use.
As the seller cannot try anything as he does not have an external screen, keyboard or mouse he was only able to plug it in and see what happens. In this case just the LED turning on.
I was searching a little bit and most threads I find where peoples minis have the same symptoms they mostly solved it by re-seating the RAM, or exchanging the RAM. I found two threads were a dead logic board was the cause. However the people where RAM was the problem it was caused from upgrading RAM or opening up the computer, whilst the ones with dead logic board just happened on its own, randomly. So I think its more likely that its the logic board as apparently the relative said it just stopped working.

Just though I'd share it. Im not getting it though, :D
 
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